Was sich ernstgenommen hat...

English translation: any seriousness (anything that took things/itself seriously)

17:04 Jul 17, 2016
German to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
German term or phrase: Was sich ernstgenommen hat...
Hi everyone,

This is an excerpt from a a telephone conversation between a film director and someone on a radio station. I don't have much context, but I'm assuming that the director took part in a radio programme and wants to change what was recorded.

"Um den Vortrag so anspruchslos zu halten, wie er gemeint war, oder noch besser, ihn zu vergessen, um... um aufzuheben, was ernstgenommen hat, oder definitiv klang oder bedeutend, ich dachte, da müsste man..." The sentence ends here.

Rough version: "To keep the speech/conversation as unpretentious as intended, or better still, to forget it... in order to stress/highlight..."

And that's where I come unstuck. :-S
Later on the director suggests using a lingering tone (Nachklang) to highlight important aspects of his conversation.

Does this make any sense?
Any input very welcome.

Thanks.

Dez
Desmond Graal
Local time: 15:42
English translation:any seriousness (anything that took things/itself seriously)
Explanation:
Author apparently being tongue-in-cheek here..:

"To keep the presentation as (intellectually) undemanding as intended, or better still, forget about in the first place, to cut/cancel out any seriousness, hint of definitiveness or importance, I thought we should…"
Selected response from:

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 10:42
Grading comment
Just tweaked it a little bit. "To rule out" sounded slightly better than "cut/cancel" (although these are closer to the German.)
Thanks for your input.
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3any seriousness (anything that took things/itself seriously)
Michael Martin, MA
3what was presented as being a serious matter
Bernhard Sulzer
2to expurgate any deeper meaning/serious issues
Jonathan MacKerron


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
any seriousness (anything that took things/itself seriously)


Explanation:
Author apparently being tongue-in-cheek here..:

"To keep the presentation as (intellectually) undemanding as intended, or better still, forget about in the first place, to cut/cancel out any seriousness, hint of definitiveness or importance, I thought we should…"


Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 10:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 14
Grading comment
Just tweaked it a little bit. "To rule out" sounded slightly better than "cut/cancel" (although these are closer to the German.)
Thanks for your input.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
what was presented as being a serious matter


Explanation:
Um den Vortrag so anspruchslos zu halten, wie er gemeint war, oder noch besser, ihn zu vergessen, um... um aufzuheben, was ernstgenommen hat

in the sense of:
was der Vortrag ernstgenommen hat (= what came across as serious in the presentation)

what was presented as a serious matter/what was presented in a serious tone

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Note added at 8 hrs (2016-07-18 01:26:13 GMT)
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PS: I wouldn't add "sich" to the German version; it's not there and not necessary.

Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 10:42
Works in field
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 20
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16 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
to expurgate any deeper meaning/serious issues


Explanation:
one possible interpretation

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Note added at 16 hrs (2016-07-18 09:34:11 GMT)
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"whitewash" comes to mind 'a whitewash of all he/she took seriously/believed in'

Jonathan MacKerron
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 27
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